Jets Camp: Battle in the trenches; Milliner signs

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wbng sports

July 29, 2013Updated Jul 30, 2013 at 5:45 PM EDT

Cortland, NY (WBNG Binghamton) The Jets are into Day Five of training camp, meaning the second day of padded practice for the team and while the quarterback competition has stolen the headlines, the battle in the trenches has proven to be a feisty one.

On Monday, the offensive and defensive lines could be heard trash talking during drills against one another, which created some heated competition.

It's that competition that coaches and players alike say will be vital to turning things around for the Jets this season.

"There all the same kind of mentality, just tough road grader type guys, and that also says something about your team," said head coach Rex Ryan. "You bring in those guys because that's what you want on your team. So I like the way those guys are built."

"This line has to be better," said offensive lineman Willie Colon. "We have to be better than last year, we have to be more efficient. If it's Mark or Geno out there, we've got to protect them, we've got to keep them upright, and we got to give them a chance for them to do their job. It's going to take time, nothing happens overnight, but whoever is back there we've got confidence that they are going to get it done."

Ryan, 'Milliner is never going to be Darrell Revis'It took a few extra days, but the Jets finally got their first draft pick signed, sealed and delivered into Cortland for training camp Monday.

First-year corner Dee Milliner signed his four-year deal with the team late on Sunday night and was expected to arrive in upstate New York late Monday. The rookie out of Alabama did miss Monday's practice in the morning though.

Afterwards, head coach Rex Ryan was asked to draw some parallels between Milliner and the recently traded Darrelle Revis.

"Well I tell you what, I hope when he plays there are those comparisons," said Ryan. "I understand where people are coming from, but Darrelle was a special player and we'll see what kind of player Dee is. Dee Milliner is never going to be Darrelle Revis, he's going to be Dee Milliner and I think that's going to be good enough."

"I think he can be, it just depends on what he wants out of it and what he expects from it," said corner Antonio Cromartie, talking about Milliner. "Knowing that there are going to be up and downs and he's just got to go with the up and downs and just go from there."

The Jets have their first day off on Tuesday before returning to the practice field Wednesday morning.